Name: The Building of the Fortress of Masisa
Start: 0703

The Building of the Fortress of Masisa

بناء حصن المصيصة

703 CE · 84 AH

In al-Baladhuri from al-Waqidi and others: in year 84 Abdullah ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan led the summer raid, entering by the pass of Antioch and coming to Masisa, where he built its fortress on the ancient foundation and settled garrison troops among them three hundred picked men of known valour and stoutness — the Muslims had never dwelt there before — and built a mosque atop the fortress hill; Abu al-Khattab al-Azdi says the first to build its fortress in Islam was Abd al-Malik through his son Abdullah in year 84, its building and garrisoning complete in year 85; the fortress held a church called Herya which the summer columns from Antioch would reach and winter at yearly, numbering a thousand five hundred to two thousand; Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz went out to Herya-Masisa meaning to demolish it and the forts between it and Antioch, saying 'I hate for the Byzantines to besiege its people', until the people showed him it was populated only to shield Antioch and that razing it would leave the enemy no barrier before it, so he held back and built them a congregational mosque by Kafarbayya with a cistern bearing his name — called the fortress mosque, ruined in al-Mu'tasim's caliphate; then Hisham built the rabad, Marwan ibn Muhammad built the suburb east of the Jayhan with a wall, timber gate and moat, and Abu al-Abbas set four hundred more men at Masisa, granting them estates.

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates the building of the fortress of al-Masisa in 84 AH on its old foundation, and its completion in 85 AH. ¹

The building

On the authority of al-Waqidi and others: Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan raided in the summer campaign, entered by the route of Antioch, and came to al-Masisa. He built its fortress and placed in it a garrison of soldiers, among them three hundred men whom he had chosen, and the Muslims had not settled it before. He built a mosque on top of the hill of the fortress. ¹

It is said by Abu al-Khattab al-Azdi that the first to build its fortress in Islam was Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, through the hand of his son Abd Allah. ¹

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wanted to demolish al-Masisa and the forts between it and Antioch, and said that he disliked the Byzantines besieging its people. The people informed him that it had been built to be a barrier before Antioch. He refrained from demolishing it, and built a congregational mosque for them. ¹

al-Masisa is one of the chief fortresses of the Syrian frontier. The rest of the account is cut out of the museum's data.

The Second Raid on Cyprus

In al-Baladhuri: in year 32 the people of Cyprus aided the Byzantines against the sea-raiders, giving them vessels, so Mu'awiya raided them in year 33 with five hundred ships, taking Cyprus by force — killing and making captives — then restored them to their treaty, sending there twelve thousand men all of the diwan who built its mosques, and transferring companies from Ba'labakk; he built a city there and they dwelt drawing stipends until Mu'awiya died and his son Yazid succeeded, who disbanded that force and ordered the city demolished — some transmitters place the second raid in year 35, and Muhammad ibn Musaffa was told Yazid was bribed with great wealth to withdraw the Cyprus garrison, whose people then demolished their city and mosques once they had gone; al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik exiled a body of them to Syria on a charge which the people disapproved, and Yazid ibn al-Walid returned them to their land; Hayy ibn Ma'yuf al-Hamdani raided them in al-Rashid's caliphate for an offence and took captives, and when they straightened to the Muslims al-Rashid ordered the captives returned; the people of Cyprus remained on Mu'awiya's treaty until Abd al-Malik added a thousand dinars, which ran until Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz remitted it, Hisham restored it, and Abu Ja'far al-Mansur declared 'we are worthier of being just to them and did not profit by wronging them', returning them to Mu'awiya's treaty.

The Building of the Fortress of Masisa

At a glance

In time

Overview

The building

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

The Second Raid on Cyprus